{"id":7901,"date":"2016-02-26T16:22:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7901"},"modified":"2016-02-26T16:22:26","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:22:26","slug":"no-to-poverty-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7901","title":{"rendered":"No to ‘poverty wages’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite local government members overwhelmingly reject \u00e2\u20ac\u0098paltry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay offer in consultative ballot
\nAbout 70,000 local government workers, members of Unite have overwhelmingly rejected the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098paltry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 two-year pay offer in a consultative ballot.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s local government national committee had recommended that its members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reject the pay offer from the Local Government Employers for a two-year pay deal of one per cent for the years starting April 2016 and April 2017.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite announced today (February 26) that its local authority members had voted by a majority of 87 percent to reject the employers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay offer.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members have voted by a large majority to reject the offer and our battle continues for fair funding for local government and that includes pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite national officer for local government Fiona Farmer.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are awaiting the ballot results from all the NJC unions before deciding on what action to take and we urge the employers to continue to engage with us on pay.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have been very disappointed in the paltry offer from the employers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis in no way addresses the continuing issue of low pay in local government for those that staff our libraries, care for the elderly and vulnerable, collect our refuse and tend our parks.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt does nothing to restore the 20 per cent real cut in earnings that have eroded our members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay since 2010, as well as the 25 per cent reduction in the workforce, meaning that those remaining are working more for less. We are entering into the realm of poverty wages,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Farmer argued.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIronically, in January, the High Pay Centre think tank showed that the pay of company executives returning to work in the new year passed the UK average salary of \u00c2\u014127,645 by late afternoon on Tuesday 5 January.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA total of 60 per cent of the 1.3 million local government workforce in the three countries covered are earning less than average annual wage of \u00c2\u014127,600 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this is, perhaps, the most glaring example of pay inequality in the UK today when you compare it to the top bosses,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite does recognise that local government is facing enormous financial pressures on its budgets with chancellor George Osborne taking the financial axe to local authorities, thus jeopardising much-valued council services.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that the low-paid in local government should become Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098whipping boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, while the City, and the rich and powerful are whooping it up on a succession of tax-breaks,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite also deplored the proposal to replace the youth workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay and conditions \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bible\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, with those of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098green book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 which is for local government workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 recognises the professional qualifications of youth and community workers and gives them longer annual holidays and better pay than those covered by the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098green book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Farmer explained.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe respect that these workers are held in was highlighted with the great support received from the public for our members in Oxfordshire when they took strike action against the axing of children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s services \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that support included the prime minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own mother, Mary and his aunt, Clare.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese professionals provide very necessary services for young people struggling with a number of issues from finding work, housing problems and, in some cases, those suffering from alcohol and drug abuse,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Farmer noted.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will be mounting a strong and vigorous campaign for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to remain as the pay and conditions template for youth and community workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite local government members overwhelmingly reject \u00e2\u20ac\u0098paltry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay offer in consultative ballot About 70,000 local government workers, members of Unite have overwhelmingly rejected the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098paltry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 two-year pay offer in a consultative ballot.   Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s local government national committee had recommended that its members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reject the pay offer from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[104,84],"wps_subtitle":"Local gov't workers reject 'paltry' pay offer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7902,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions\/7902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}